Pre mask shopping - will you?

This is no different, to me, than many on here who pre official lock down went out for “one last hair cut” or “one last night out to eat”, as though the virus wouldn’t hit because lockdown hadn’t started yet.

It’s not just one age group. It’s every age group

.

Herbie9

Wouldn't wear my deaf aids with a mask. Have already lost a nice gold earring! Does anyone else have trouble like this? I suppose the answer is cotton washable masks with ties around the back of the head but I can't find them in the shops and I couldn't make one. Plenty of the diposable ones for sale with the roun d the ear elastic which just aren't suitable.

I have the same problem Herbie. I wear glasses and hearing aids and there just isn’t room for mask straps behind my delicate lug-oles.

I love scarves and I’ve been wearing tubular scarves for several years as they don’t waft off and dress up a plain tee shirt or top. They’re perfect for masks. If you’re particular, folded in three they’re well within guide lines and can be slipped up over the lower part of your face with ease. If I’m wearing one as a mask for any length of time I bring it over my earrings too and haven’t lost one yet.

SeaSalt do a nice selection but cheaper ones are out there.

(Love it Furret!)

Wearing a tubular 'mask' entails pulling it up over your face as you remove it.
Undoing ties or elastic means the mask comes straight off and into the sink for washing.
Far less contamination risk.

I nipped into our local supermarket for some bread an yoghurt two days ago. Yes, I was wearing a mask. I haven't been in a supermarket since mid March but this past week decided as the mad queues had gone and it seemed quiet again I could risk it.
It felt like a build up to the apocalypse. People (usually men) with the large trollies overflowing with items, especially toilet role. My son in law later suggested lots of people were stocking up so they wouldn't have to wear masks.
What is the matter with this country?! Some people see it as an infringement of their civil liberties to ask them to consider other people. Are the anti maskers the same people who are anti vax and have BBQ's on our moorland risking fires, just because they want to.
Selfish bar stewards

pipdog thank you for coming back and explaining.

Actually I do remember the protests when seat belts became compulsory, the queues for certificates from doctors etc. There is now no medical condition which will automatically exempt you, and if you are not wearing a seat belt, you may well invalidate your insurance.

Perhaps if the insurance companies cotton on (excuse unintended pun!) and refuse to pay out life insurance to someone who entered a shop without a mask and caught it, then some might think again. Though sadly the reason for wearing them is unselfishly wishing to protect others rather than yourself, and some people don't do unselfish.

I understand that at the moment the risk of encountering someone with CV-19 in a shop is 1:3000. It is minimal, but I guess you would hope that that 1 person in 3000 was wearing a mask!

I don't like wearing a mask but will do so for the general good. People in Europe have been wearing them for ages. I think a lot of people in England are behaving like spoilt brats.

mcem

Wearing a tubular 'mask' entails pulling it up over your face as you remove it.
Undoing ties or elastic means the mask comes straight off and into the sink for washing.
Far less contamination risk.

I understand your point mcem, I am careful and they are very stretchy and its the lesser of two evils. If I wear a mask I can’t wear a hearing aid. I’m only hard of hearing not deaf but its only recently I’ve realised how much I lip read, so with everyone wearing masks which muffles speech as well, I’m pretty much deaf.

I’m avoiding being inside communal spaces with people as much as possible anyway. Too dodgey.

I have just returned from Waitrose - my first time since early March and the car park was half empty (on a Friday!), we were allowed in one at a time to avoid congestion in the doorway, everybody was wearing a mask and nobody seemed to be buying huge amounts from what I could see. It felt very quiet and there were loads of yellow stickers on fresh salad and veg.
All the better for me!
And possibly because I have not used my card since March, I got a £4 off a £40 shop, valid until next Friday! ( Absence clearly makes the heart grow fonder.)
Not good from Waitrose’s point of view of course, but I appreciated the space around me.
Coffee shop was shut though
I do wonder if all this faffing about face coverings isn’t because some people like to be awkward? They are possibly the same people who were most vocal about missing seeing their grandchildren during lockdown. Well we can’t have it “every which way”.

We seem to have a pet hate for masks. Like everybody else I don't love wearing them but I understand that if I don't, I shouldn't be allowed in shops and public transport. I do believe it protects me as well as others, in fact I've always worn it before in supermarkets.

I think most supermarkets will be quieter than normal today as lots of people seem to have stocked up earlier in the week to avoid going today.

I’m wondering what shopping will be like in the winter, going into overheated shops with a mask which will make us feel hotter and hotter.

I really do fear for the future of our town centres.

I agree Jennifer about the future of our town centres. A lot of shops were dying before all this, so I'm not very hopeful. Must be very disheartening, especially for the small independent shops.

Correct me if I’m wrong, I know someone will!, if you are wearing a mask to protect others does ‘this mean you think you’ve ‘got it’, if so surely you should be tested.????

Any one of us could have 'it' without knowing.
For lots, they have no symptoms at all, but that doesn't mean that the person you give it to will be the same. It could kill them, or have life changing results.

It was a rather difficult experience for me. I'm claustrophobic and the first shop I went into today I put on my light weight mask just before entering and immediately felt panicked.

I had to keep pulling it forward in attempt to calm down and by the time I got to the check out I was so desperate to leave, that I left one of the items I'd purchased behind. Thankfully it was spotted and an assistant followed me out to give it to me.

Mr. S. had gone to the bank which took longer so thank goodness I'd opted for the shop.

He suggested when we went to the supermarket that I just put it over my mouth, which was marginally better but I still had to keep pulling it forward.

Once we'd emptied the trolley at the check out I had to leave him to finish as I had to get out so I could remove the mask altogether.

I'm hoping that I'll get used to it.

People should use their common sense as to when and where they shop and whether they wear a mask. I would personally be cautious and cover up near others. However, there is a real issue of creeping authoritarianism in the government issuing blanket orders.

Moreover, this particular dictat is effectively dead in the water since the police will not enforce it and at least three major supermarkets will not force their staff to confront public non compliance.

Everyone in our little town seems to be wearing some sort of face covering when inside shops, but most are still taking them off outside. Probably because we have a high population of Wrinklies who can’t understand each other when they stop to chat and the youngsters are all full of bravado and rebellion.

I don’t like not being able to see other people’s expressions. I can’t judge whether they’re just looking in my direction or want to speak - or often, even if they have spoken!

Megs36 As it can be a week or more before you know that you have "got it", and as it is infectious without you showing any symptoms, everyone who is going to come into contact with anyone else in a shop, hairdressers, doctors, or anywhere else ought to be wearing a mask. If you wait until you think you may have caught it, you have probably already given it to two or three others.

Also, a mask does make it less likely that you will be infected by someone you meet who is too careless to wear a mask themselves.

Also should help prevent passing on colds and flu I guess.

CraftyCat no, staff don’t have to wear one they can if they want but don’t have to
I went to Asda today got my mask out at the door and put it on I only saw one lady not wearing a mask I expect she had an excemption but very few staff were wearing them I was there about an hour and was ready to take it off when I got back outside but I expect to do as I m told especially when it makes sense in a crowded shop
The charity shop I work in has had an advisory letter to say ask customers to wear a mask if they present without one (we sell them for £1 each) but you cannot challenge them further than that, the letter also states staff do not have to wear masks

I watched a thread on Fb where people were saying they could not, or would not, wear masks for various reasons. One even came up with the science behind tetany being caused by rebreathing carbon dioxide, ( True but, not caused by wearing a mask).
There have been lots of trials proving that oxygen saturation is not reduced by wearing a mask.

My question is this: why are there so many retired doctors and nurses? Shouldn’t we all have died years ago from wearing masks at work?

Smileless. I do sympathise. If you are that claustrophobic, I am sure your GP would be able to give you an exception letter. Fiddling with it to pull it away from your face, or only wearing it over your mouth is the same as not wearing one.